Travel: Short Break in West Wales

An escape for the soul, to West Wales, in a little cottage not far from Llanrhystud. You can tell just how remote you are when you arrive in a town which has no cash points and you step back in time to the 1970s to have to withdraw cash from the Post Office counter!

However, West Wales has plenty of charms (and contactless)! 

Nature

Head to Devils Bridge Falls first thing in the morning to have the place all to yourself. It is not a walk for the faint hearted though - the Jacobs Ladder is pretty intense, but the views of the waterfall are spectacular, and also so different at every turn as you traverse the wooded gorge. You can also go into the Punch Bowl for a separate £1 fee where you can see how the water has carved out bowl shaped caverns in the rock. The sound of the water thundering through is really impressive.

Prices vary according to season - maximum of £4 per adult at current time. The main walk and punch bowl will take around an hour.

For a whole day experience, you can take the steam train on the Vale of Rheidol railway from Aberystwyth.

Marine

With the whole of Cardigan Bay on your doorstep, why not take a boat trip to see if you can spot some local wildlife. We took a trip with Seamor Dolphin Watching Trips at New Quay, an hour and a half guided boat trip with a Marine Biologist who talked through not only the wildlife but also the heritage of the coast. Sadly, we did not spot any dolphins on our trip, however we did see jellyfish, kittiwakes and many other birds as well as handling a lobster.

New Quay itself is a very pretty, unspoilt village with brightly painted houses. 

Our "local" beach at Llanrhystud was very peaceful, with very few people. An evening stroll along the beach was one of my favourite parts of the break.

History

Llanachaeron is one of those amazing National Trust properties where a lot of the Below Stairs life is featured. In fact, it is still a working farm with pigs and geese. There are so many rooms such as the laundry, the meat store, the gardeners room where you see where the real activity occurred! . The walled kitchen garden is also a beautiful space, in fact you can also buy the produce in the shop.

It was just a two night break for us in West Wales, but I loved it so much that I will definitely be back for more.

Love Mrs Jones x